October 30, 2014

Big Mouth Mask. Pitch: "Use anybody's face and you can take their place." Marketer: On Demand. Producer: Hutton-Miller. Comments: Depending on your tastes, this is weird, creepy -- or totally awesome! As much as I love to preach and follow tried-and-true rules, sometimes you have to take a flyer, and this product is unique enough to warrant taking a shot. The online animated version of this idea seems to be popular, so who knows? [ss]

Cupdini. Pitch: "The never-spill cup holder." Comments: Neat idea, but I don't think this issue is very high on the problem scale. How often do people drive with open containers? [ss]

Knits Cool. Pitch: "Knit your favorite fashions in minutes." Comments: Are favorite fashions knitted these days? Are young girls at all interested in knitting? Or is this a granny Rainbow Loom that should never have tested? My gut answers are no, no and yes. Knits cool? No knits not. [ss]

Magic Finder. Pitch: "You'll never lose anything ever again ." Comments: When I first saw this concept on a 'crowdfunding' site, I really liked it. Not sure how well it will do on DRTV, though, given smart phone-related items have a terrible track record. Plus, this customer skews much younger than the average TV buyer. [ss]

StickO. Marketer: Will It Launch. Pitch: "Tiny but powerful universal phone mount ... travels with you everywhere you go." Comments: This is more of a premium than an item, especially with more substantial competitors on the market such as Allstar's GripGo (a rollout) and Emson's Clever Grip (undetermined). [ss]

ThermoGo. Pitch: "The comfortable heating pad that keeps you ... warm and toasty." Marketer: Edison Nation. Comments: I've had some experience in this category, none of it positive. Telebrands' Therma Scarf and Lenfest's Snap 'N Soothe come to mind. Besides seasonality, this product would really only appeal to someone who spends a lot of time outdoors ... shortly after being somewhere there's a microwave handy. The cold pitch at the end is also strange. I can't think of anyone who'd want a frozen butt? [ss]

Wonder Watch. Producer: Concepts TV. Pitch: "Extra-large numbers ... makes telling time at a glance fast and easy." Comments: After the success of EZ Eyes, many marketers (including myself) took a hard look at every other large-print gadget that had ever sold well. Some projects even made it to TV (see Clear Call). However, none found success, proving the keyboard was an outlier and not a category. [ss]

Sign Up

About Me

I am the founder and president of SciMark Corp., a consulting firm that specializes in direct marketing techniques. I've helped launch dozens of consumer products in my career, some of which (such as the Finishing Touch/Micro Touch hair removers and the HD Vision line of sunglasses) went on to become household brands. I also helped pioneer two methodologies for identifying winning DRTV products that have become industry standards: online surveys and Web testing. In addition to publishing this blog, I contribute monthly to Response magazine and the official blog for the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA).